A short distance offshore from the Tinderbox Bay boat ramp lies an artificial reef built from hundreds of bus tyres, a small wooden boat, car bodies and assorted smaller items, dropped onto the sandy bottom in about 10 m to create habitat. The Marine Life Network guide lists it as marked by moorings, about 200 m from the ramp, and describes schools of fish, small crayfish, sponges and coral growths on the structures. Over the years the tyres and debris have become encrusted with sponges, ascidians and other invertebrates, and the hollows provide shelter for fish and crustaceans in an otherwise featureless sand and silt area.

Schools of small fish hover over the piles, leatherjackets and wrasse pick at the growth, and crayfish, crabs and octopus use the cavities. It is an easy, shallow structure dive suited to training and to divers who enjoy poking around artificial habitat. Because it sits near the Tinderbox marine reserve and boat ramp, boat traffic is the main hazard; a dive flag is required, and the return swim from shore is stiff, so most divers use a small boat.

Visibility follows the local pattern: acceptable after dry weather, poor after rain. The reef's value today is partly historical – such tyre reefs are no longer built, as tyres are now recognised as a poor reef material – but the existing structure supports a surprising amount of life. Check whether the site lies inside the current reserve boundary before collecting anything; the safest approach is to take nothing.

Drive to Tinderbox via Kingston, Blackmans Bay and Tinderbox Road/Fergusson Avenue (about 30 minutes from Hobart). The Marine Life Network guide places the reef about 200 m from the Tinderbox Bay boat ramp, marked by moorings. Small boats can reach it in a couple of minutes from the ramp (low tide only); fit divers sometimes swim out, but the return swim is stiff and a dive flag is essential because of boat traffic.

The Kingborough coast south of Hobart faces east across the lower Derwent and the northern D'Entrecasteaux Channel, so it is sheltered from the prevailing westerlies – the main reason Hobart divers use it year-round. Easterly and south-easterly winds put chop and small swell onto the shore and churn up the sandy bottom; strong southerly swell entering Storm Bay can also wrap in. Heavy rain is the biggest factor for visibility: the Derwent and local creeks carry tannin-stained, silty runoff that can drop visibility to 1-3 m for days.

Tidal flow is weak. Best after dry spells with westerlies, and in the calm mornings of late summer and autumn; night dives are popular year-round.

Descend a mooring line to the reef at 10 m, circle the tyre piles and larger items, and look inside the tyres for crayfish and fish. Ascend on the mooring line with a dive flag at the surface.

No scheduled operator trips; used by Hobart club and shop divers for training and fun dives.